The Writers Journey: Mythic Structure for Writers, 3rd Edition

I bought a copy of this book years ago, when it was a new concept and copies were only available at writer's conferences. I loved that book, re-read it regularly, loaned it to others, and nearly wore out my copy. This edition is at least three times the size, and even more overloaded with useful information for fiction writers, and some nonfiction writers. (Biographies and personal stories could benefit from the insights in this book.) This book pioneered the "hero's journey" as a plotting template, based on Joseph Campbell's study of mythology and archetypes. However, this edition of the book takes readers (and fellow writers) far beyond the hero's journey concepts. In fact, this book is tremendously useful for all fiction writers, not just those following the "hero's journey" plot structure. (In other words, it will work with the three-act model, Aristotle's incline, and so on.) For example, there's a wonderful chapter about polarity. It shows you ways to improve your characters and their conflicts. Polarity helps engage your readers, increase tension, and helps with that dreaded mid-book slump where the plot can drag. In addition, the author has drawn on all kinds of cross-cultural examples of different elements of any story, fiction and nonfiction alike. Those insights are tremendously useful. Also, this book is so well-organized and broken into headings, you can open the book to almost any page and find something useful for your story. When I read it -- even after all these years -- I discover about three "ah-HA!" ideas on every page. Though this book may be almost overwhelming for beginning writers, it's a book every writer should own. No matter where you are on your writing journey, there's something to learn -- and benefit from -- even if you only read one page (or part of a page) at a time. In addition, the both the table of contents and the subject index at the back of the book are thorough and useful, so you can find what you're looking for, quickly. Every fiction writer (and most nonfiction writers) should own a copy of this book, and browse its pages, regularly. It's that good... and that important, to help you understand your best writing, and bring that to every story.

Among the most coveted books for fiction writers, The Writer's Journey has become a classic. It belongs on the shelf of every budding novelist, storyteller, screenwriter, and writers' room collaborator, and not buried somewhere among the archives, but displayed prominently within reach.

I found this book by accident. I had received a listed of suggested reading from a local university's English/creative writing faculty. While looking on-line at those books, I stumbled on to this one. I found it much more helpful than any of the books the professor mentioned: it made me think about writing in different way. It's not a book about "writing." Rather, it discusses a bigger picture, what makes a "story" succeed, what makes it "work." The book's concept is that the mythological/psychological theories of Joseph Campbell (_The Hero with a Thousand Faces_) provide a helpful tool for modern story-telling - and also for the lives led by writers. The second item is not a strong theme in the book, but does put in the occasional appearance. The first theme has led some to disparage the book for suggesting writers take a formula-istic approach to their tales. The author himself repeatedly states what he discusses is not to be used as formula. Regarding this "controversy," my opinion is that you'll get out the book what you read into it. The book is written by someone in the movie industry, and it offers a host of "screenwriting" examples, from _The Wizard of Oz_ up to _Star Wars_ and _Titanic_, the majority of which most people will have at least passing knowledge of. The book is written in a clear and easy-to-read style. It has one annoying stylistic fault (perhaps in an attempt to be "PC," it always uses the feminine pronoun for a "hero"), but that is a rather minor complaint. Each chapters ends with a Summary & series of Questions, which help reinforce the discussion. The book discusses such topics as story structures, the different "acts" and elements of a tale, archetypal characters, and more. Even the Appendices of this book are quite interesting, discussing how a story is "alive," the concept of catharsis, and more.

THE WRITER'S JOURNEY is quite a monstrous book in size as well as the information it contains. I must admit it took me some time to get through it. Although I don't regret reading it I must say in many ways it was way beyond my comprehension. So much information that I had a hard time deciphering it all. The examples were extensive which had its advantages as well as its disadvantages. I would have to say what I took away from this book is the sense that characters are quite complex, thus are humans. I now have a different perspective on the structure of a novel, and even more so the importance of it. This book also put to words the feelings an amazing movie or book can provoke. Why, how, and the importance of it. At one of my writing meetings, we watched the concepts of this book being taught by the authors on DVD. Though I was only able to watch the first half, I must say it was easier to comprehend then the book. I would highly recommend the DVD's verses the book.

The Ultimate Guide for Beginners to Experts This book should be 10 stars! It is packed with detailed information for character development, scenes, stages of the journey and much more. This book not only describes principles for dynamic storytelling but as Christopher Vogler states, within this book is "a set of principles for living...a complete instruction manual in the art of being human." Vogler states we react to stories with the organs of our body. To feel is to be human. If there is no reaction, a book is lifeless, dead, and the reader walks away unsatisfied. You must arouse the reader, stir up feelings - conflict, pain, excitement. The Writers Journey shows you the art and science of arousing emotions, engaging your readers, and stirring the senses. Evoking the feelings on the big screen or the page is what great novelists, screenwriters and producers aspire to achieve. This book lights the way. The depth and breadth of content ignites the imagination and provides a well spring of inspiration. The Writers Journey has been recommended by many great novelists, professors and screenwriters, it is THE reference book and a must have at any stage of the writing process.

This book, in general, is one of the best that I've read on writing in a long while. Not only is it interesting from a psychological standpoint, but it gives you a greater and broader perspective on where your characters have been, are going, and where they may end up in relation to the story you're writing. I find it to be a good resource not only for screenwriting but fiction writing as well. It does present the idea that there are certain patterns that all stories follow or adhere to (giving excuse to movies or books that have failed because "it's all been done before"). There again, I can think of an example or two of stories that have already been done and become some of the most successful movies/books of all time (Titanic comes to mind; a story that was already written some 400 years ago by William Shakespeare). Still, the point of the book is to offer an alternative viewpoint on story and character than other books on the subject which give only a generalized understanding; a cut and dry version of what is a complex issue. Christopher Vogler really shines with this tome. A must for anyone looking to get started in writing or for veterans who want a different and more 'ethereal' approach to the business. I may suggest too to pick up Joseph Campbell's Hero With 1000 Faces as this book borrows from it quite a lot as well as the works of Carl Jung.

There are a lot of resources and guides for writers, but there are only a few of them that I would classify as invaluable regardless of writing style, or genre. This book is very definitely one of them. Vogler admits that his work in this book is based in part on the works of Carl Jung and Jospeh Campbell, but that is only bolstered by the years of experience Vogler has in writing and analyzing story structure. Inside the cover of this book, you will find a breakdown of the generic story structure, character archetypes, and how those have been applied to some of the iconic films of our time. There is also a very personal element to the work in this book, giving the reader an insight into the journey Vogler himself has taken, not only in the writing of this book but also in the years since it's first edition release. The entire book is written in a way that takes some very complex ideas and breaks them down in ways that are easy to understand. However, it's the application of the concepts that will always challenge any writer, but I learned a lot from reading this book, and can't wait to take up the challenge of following my own path. With a new understanding of the underlying structures that show up in so many stories, and the psychology of particular character roles, my stories can only benefit.

The author takes a project-oriented and archetypal view of the story. I did find it fascinating that stories can be viewed from this point of view. However, it is probably also a bit simplistic to try to straitjacket all myths into archetypes. From my point of view, the Indian epics the Mahabharata and Ramayana are obvious examples of works that do have some of the components (calls to adventure, mentors, thresholds, returns with elixirs), but they have vastly more than those components, including complex webs of motives, great philosophical insight, and in terms of storylines their endings that are very far removed from the comic book “return to the happy world”. Many film and TV stories also go way beyond simple archetypes. "The Wire", "Breaking Bad" and the French "Spiral" are some of the thousands of examples. The book is still a useful read, if one ignores the hype around the book.